


The Dark Side of the Moon

by maddierose



Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Healing, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Multi, Pansexual Character, Parallels, Polyamory, Unhealthy Relationships, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29375175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddierose/pseuds/maddierose
Summary: As the Free Navy rises to power, Oriana Beck's feelings for Marco Inaros grows—until Naomi Nagata's presence exposes a dangerous side to Marco that she never anticipated. As the man she loves shows his true colours, Oriana questions whether she can ever be free, or if she will always be a pawn in Marco's game.
Relationships: Marco Inaros/Original Female Character, Polyam belter fam - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	The Dark Side of the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This is really just a test to see how it goes. Please note the relationship between the original character and Marco Inaros is not the main romance, she will eventually become part of the polyam belter fam (if I ever get to writing this far). The story will also focus on her relationship with and her parallels to Naomi Nagata.

It was dark aboard the  _ Pella _ , and silent as a graveyard. Oriana Beck strode through the corridors with a mug of instant coffee in her hand, mag-boots clicking through the empty halls. Her mind was full of screams that wouldn’t be silenced, the cries of all the Belter comrades she’d heard die over the years. Tonight they haunted her. Were those ghosts the icy chill creeping up her spine, like the caress of cold fingers?

As she reached the bridge, it took a few flicks of Oriana’s slim fingers to summon the flight plan of the asteroids heading for Earth. She folded her arms and took another sip of her coffee. She’d never much liked the taste, but she forced the bitterness down her throat.

Oriana craned her neck back, fierce pride coursing through her veins as her eyes raked over the neon digital display. The projected impact zones of the asteroids, the countdown ticking down the days and hours until collision. Earth would never know what had hit them, not until it was too late. Her lips curved into a smile.

Of course she’d always admired Marco. He shone bright as the sun, and she was just a small planet orbiting in the outer reaches, until her brother’s death had given Oriana a more central position among Marco’s adamant followers. She was a bit of a prodigy in demolitions, and that had caught Marco’s attention. The thing about his attention was keeping it, because Oriana knew there were women older and more experienced and more charming than her.

“What are you doing here?” It was Filip, Marco’s son. A few years short of a decade younger than her, though they had always been good friends. He emerged from the shadows, curly dark hair mussed.

“Can’t sleep.” Oriana tilted her head back and drained the dregs of her coffee.

“You either?” His lips curved into the hint of a smile.

Oriana didn’t respond, her eyes still drawn to the dwindling countdown of the first asteroid. Earthers and Martians were so privileged, all of them. They had never known the suffering that Belters had gone through, but they would soon. Marco would make sure of it.

Oriana had been twenty-one when she had fully committed to the cause. She pondered on when she had fallen for Marco, but it couldn’t have been long after that. It was a ridiculous crush, feelings she’d never expected to be reciprocated. Her heart beat faster when he was around, but she must have just been some silly girl to him. He was older, so full of ideas and hopes and dreams.

So when he had first kissed her, she had been certain that it was a mistake. That regret would spill forth from his tongue. Instead it was...more complicated. Oriana would never be presumptuous enough to claim she had a romantic relationship with Marco. It was something occasional, fleeting moments she would have given anything to keep. But Marco was a busy man, and Oriana could never expect him to make time for her.

“Always trouble when you’re quiet,” Filip joked, eyes full of warmth. He was like the little brother she’d never had. Sometimes, she wondered if she viewed Filip like her own brother had viewed her. It was too late to tell now.

“Thinking.”

“About?” he pressed.

How was she supposed to explain to an only child what it was like to lose a sibling? Living without her brother was like a missing limb. She still had the rest of her, and it still functioned, but there would always be something missing.

“What it would be like if he was here,” Oriana said softly, and Filip’s expression morphed into something sympathetic. She saw the side of him he never showed to Marco, the vulnerability, the boy behind the bluster.

“He would be proud. Of you. Of all of us.”

Oriana drew a faded photograph out of her pocket. It was littered with fold lines, but the picture coaxed a sad smile from her. She remembered unearthing the ancient polaroid camera and insisting upon utilising it, despite her parents’ protests that surely a digital picture would have been better.

Her brother, probably in his late teens, an arm slung around an Oriana who was about ten or eleven, grinning broadly. She kept the photo in her pocket and took it out to look at it, to remind herself whenever she wavered. This was what she was fighting for. Not just the Belt as a whole, but the Belters who had paid with their lives for the Inners’ greed.

“We’re going to avenge you, Chester.”


End file.
